Laundry room in the basement

I have a 125 year old house and I have to put the laundry room down in the basement. The basement is dry but dirty and dusty -- stone walls, concrete slab floors and dust, spiders and dirt. The inspector suggested washing down the walls with bleach solution (which I haven't done yet) but I was also considering putting down something around the washer dryer so I don't have to rewash anything I drop. I've heard that after cleaning, priming and painting the floors and walls and even the ceiling joists would help -- if I decide to frame in walls later that's another issue, any suggestions? I don't want to feel dirty doing wash.

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Laundry room in the basement

Sounds like it is just the concept of working in the basement that is creeping you out? Add some light---especially in your laundry area---to start. You might add a dehumidifier to get rid of any dampness that tries to accumulate.

You will feel a lot better once the basement is thoroughly cleaned. If you don't want to do it, call in someone like ServiceMaster, etc. to do it for you. I use them a lot for this sort of thing and for paint preps. They end up being not that expensive considering they come with whatever size army is required and all the solutions, tools and equipment they need.

Once it is cleaned up you just need to keep the floors vacuumed and mopped like any other area of the home. You can paint walls and floors with the proper materials if you want but you will probably find you only get so much out of it all before the moisture and alkali in the building materials causes you have to do it again. Hardly worth painting joists and walls if you are going to finish the basement at some point? You would be better off putting down a vinyl remnant or something in the laundry area if the concrete really bothers you. A seamless epoxy coating for the floors would be another possibility but the fumes are really dangerous so you will have to move out for a couple of days. You still have to vacuum and mop them.

How about a nice throw rug the proper size to catch any laundry you drop.

Spray for the spiders if they are prolific I guess. Usually taking a vacuum to obvious webs will control them as well as anything.